Method of locating concealed water-pipes.



. UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn. f

`DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; SAID I BURN.

DDINGS ASSIGNOR TO SAID WASH- IVIETHOD OF LCATING CONCEALED WATER-PIPES.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 658,013, datedSeptember I8, 1900. Application filed December 2, 1899;. Serial No.739,039. iio model.)

To all whom 7115 may concern: Y

enable othersskilled in the art lto which ittapl' pertains to make anduse the same, reference lbeing had to the accompanying drawings, and

to the let-ters of reference marked thereon, l

in the basement of the houseis located af which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to a certain new and useful method or process fortracing and locatiugconcealed pi pes-such, for instance, as

gas or water pipeswhich are hidden within the walls or ceilings ofbuildings, thus obviating the necessity of unnecessarily tearing outpartitions, walls, .or other construction in order to secure access tothe pipes.

The primary object of the invention resides in the application of theprocess to the use of plumbers in tracing and locating either gas orwater pipes which are concealed by construction of buildings.

The invention further contemplates the provision of an induction devicefor use in cases in which the resistance of the conductor the current ofelectricity will travel in the is great.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked, thereon, form a part ofthis specification, like letters of reference indicating the samepartsthroughout the several views, and in which-- battery andelectrical-circuit interrupter being shown in circuit with the wiringand pipf ing. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing our apparatus inconnection with the system of gaspiping for the purpose of locating'theposition and directionof the pipes.

View of an ordinary battery and electric-circuit interrupter. Fig. 4 isa detail View of Fig. 3 is av the explorer, showing* the connection ofthe Be itknown that we, FREDERICK T. IDDINGs 1telephone-receivertherewith.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, Adesignates in Fig.

1 a gas-piping running throughout the several stories of a house andembedded in'the wallsfas shown.

vB designates an electric Wiring ,running through the various partitionsandwalls and connected to pendants for lighting the gas,

which are secured to the various gas-chandeliers. t

At any suitable location-as, for instance,

battery D, one poleof which is connected to the electric wiring B, andits other pole is l.the electric-circuit interrupter, the short circuit,and the battery. In the drawings wc have indicated the short circuit,which it is desired to locate by ourimproved apparatus, byletter K inFig. 1, being between the downwardly extendingV electric wire connectedto the chandelier in the second story and the pipe H. There being ashort circuit,

direction of the arrows. In order to determine the exact location ofthis short circuit, an explorer M, Fig. 4, is employed. Thisexplorer,.for which we claim n o invention, as

substantially the same device is in use for other purposes, consistsofja large coil-of properly-insulated wire wound about a central core inlongitudinal folds and suitably incased.. yTo the casing are secured twoconnecting-pbsts N N, having connection, re-

spectively, to the two ends of the coil of wire telephone-receiver tohis ear and with his other hand places the explorer over the surface ofthe wall and moves it about until the explorer comes sufficiently nearto the circuit, so that the current in the circuit will induce a currentin the coil of said explorer. The moment the explorer approaches thecircuit the electric-circuit interrupter will be heard plainly throughthe telephone. The noise of the interrupter will be heard louder as theexplorer approaches the circuit and as the length of the explorerapproaches a position parallel to the length of the circuit, in whichposition the buzz of the interrupter is heard most distinctly. When theneutral zone of the explorer is immediately over and parallel with thecircuit, the buzz of the circuitinterrupter is not heard, as theelectric current of the circuit ceases to induce a current in the coilof the explorer. When this condition obtains, the operator hasdetermined the direction in which the circuit runs, which is in a linelongitudinally and centrally through the explorer. The operator then cantrace the circuit to the ceiling of the particular story, and if byturning his explorer over the surface of the ceiling he is not able tohear the buzz of the interrupter he is aware that there is no shortcircuit in thestory of the house that has been examined. Going to thesecond story, for instance, the same operation is repeated. Locating thevertical direction of the circuit, he finds that on pushing the explorerover the surface of the ceiling the buzz of the interrupter is plainlyheard, and by manipulating the apparatus he determines the direction inwhich the circuit runs horizontally in the ceiling, and consequentlyknows that the short circuit is still beyond the point at which theexplorer is located. By moving the explorer along the horizontal pipe inthe ceiling the circuit is traced down the pipe leading to thechandelier, and after passing the point of the short circ uit the buzzof the interrupterceases to be heard, by which the operator knows thatthe direction of the current has changed. By turning the explorer atright angles and slightly manipulating same the exact location of theshort circuit is determined.

When our apparatus is used for tracing the direction of the gas-pipingof a house, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the connection ismade, for instance, between the interrupter and the battery, as before,one pole of the battery being connected to the chandelier and theinterrupter connected to any other part of the piping, as to thewall-bracket burner. Then by the use of the explorer, Inanipulated inthe saine manner as hereinbefore described, the exact location of thedirection of the gas-pipe may be determined.

While we have for the purpose of describing our invention shown aninterrupter consisting of an ordinary buzzer commonly used byelectricians, it is at once evident that any form of instrument adaptedto either induce or interrupt a current may be substituted therefor. Itwill also be understood that in certain cases, such as undergroundconduitwork, a simple buzzer connected in this manner would not furnisha current `of sufficient potential, andin such case we would use aninduced or alternating current of high potential. We attain this resulteither by the use of an induction-coil in connection with the buzzer orby using the discharge of the buzzercoils by connecting the two ends ofthe circuit with the two ends of the wire on the buzzer-coils andconnecting the two wires from the Vbattery with the two binding-posts onthe buzzer. In some cases it may be necessary to connect a condenser inseries with the buzzer-coils to prevent the short-circuiting of thecoils, which would bethe case if the resistance of the circuit to betested is small.

We are aware that it has been proposed to detect faults l or groundsupon electric distributing systems, especially electric railways, bymeans of a telephone and indicatingcoil and do not seek to cover suchbroadly; but so far as we are aware we are the first to provide for thelocation of pipes concealed within a building, thus obviating thenecessity of tearing out the walls or plastering in order to locate suchpipes.

Having thus described our invention,what we claim to be new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

V1. The herein-described method of tracing and locating pipes concealedwithin the wall or floors of a building,whichlconsists in charging thepipes with electricity, throwing an electric interrupter into thecircuit, moving an explorer over the surface of the wall or door andinducing a current in the latter as it approaches the circuit andchanging the position of the explorer to indicate the direction in whichthe pipe extends, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described method of tracing and locating pipesconcealed'within the wall or floors of a buildin g,which consists incharging the pipes-with electricity, throwing an electric interrupterinto the circuit, then changing the position of the explorer until theinduced current therein ceases, thus indicating that the explorer isimmediately over and in line with the pipe, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

. FREDERICK T. IDDINGS. DWIGHT H. WASHBURN. Witnesses:

A. L. HOUGH, FRANKLIN H. HOUGH.

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